Qinwen Zheng rode a roller-coaster ride of highs and lows into the US Open quarter-finals on Monday, upsetting major winners Madison Keys and Iga Swiatek in back-to-back matches in the start of an epic career comeback.
China's Zheng had everything working in her favour two years ago, with the Olympic gold around her neck, a maiden major final at the Australian Open and a spot in the top 10.
But a chronic elbow injury brought her progress to a screeching halt as she bounced out in the first round at Wimbledon in 2025 before undergoing surgery.
After a grim 2026 season littered with early exits, including first-round defeats at the French Open and the All England Club, she tumbled to 121st in the rankings and was forced to go through qualifying in New York.
"Psychologically, it is very difficult to accept. I mean, I used to be top 10, Olympic champion. I play in the big stadiums since the beginning," said Zheng.
"I know people have a lot of doubt about me, and it's just really hard for me. I just need to keep positive every single day, telling myself, 'Just keep working, and let's see when the result gonna happen'.
"It is a really, really tough process. I suffered a lot, and I have been through a lot of pain every single losses I have. But I think at the end, in sport, you just need to stay humble and keep fighting, because once you lost that, the result really shows everything."
The power of her positive thinking has been on full display in New York.
She overcame a 0-5 deficit in the decisive set against 2017 finalist Keys in the third round, and she slayed another dragon in Swiatek in the fourth, overcoming a 0-5 deficit in the opening set.
She credited the turnaround in form, in part to a last-minute training block she and her coach squeezed in after another dreadful pre-tournament defeat in the first round of qualifying in Toronto.
"My coach sat down with me and we had a long talk together. He told me, 'You can't continue playing like this. You need to have a training block'," said Zheng.
"It was really tough, but this is how sport shows. If you don't work hard, you don't have it. So I'm really happy about we make together the work, and then at the end, the effort pays off."
Zheng will play second-seeded Elena Rybakina next.
"I'm just really happy to be back again," she told reporters. "I mean, if that's what God gives to me, all the losses before, I'm sure that he will give me something back, no?"
Osaka philosophical in defeat
Naomi Osaka's fourth-round US Open defeat on Monday extended her wait for another Grand Slam title, but she put the setback into perspective, saying motherhood and life beyond tennis had changed how she viewed success.
The Japanese player won the last of her four major titles at the Australian Open in 2021, before stepping away from the sport and giving birth to daughter Shai three years ago.
Despite encouraging results since returning to the tour, including a US Open semi-final anWimbledon quarter-finalquarter-final, Osaka said so much had happened in her life that the drought felt both long and short.
"I had a kid, you know? There's a lot that happened in that time," Osaka said after her 6-1, 6-4 defeat by Rybakina.
"If I reflect on my career and the things I've been able to do, there's nothing that I regret, or there's nothing that I'm sad about.
"If I win another Grand Slam, it's not going to change my life. That's crazy that I can say that, because I remember the first slam that I won; it was a huge whirlwind. I think it wouldn't feel as long."
Osaka won her first Grand Slam title at the US Open in 2018, repeating the feat in 2020. She claimed another major at Melbourne Park in 2019.
The 28-year-old, who had to manage an Achilles injury in her loss to Rybakina on Monday, said she was continuing to learn from her defeats.
"Today, if I was to say I'm sad, I was just sad that I couldn't push off on my foot. I'm sad that I couldn't do what I had set out to do," she added.
"If I think about my life, my daughter is healthy, everyone in my family is great. I had an opportunity to play this slam. I got as far as I could. So it's only up from here."
